1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunications devices and, in particular, to an improved system and method for multimedia telephony-over-LAN conferences.
2. Description of the Related Art
An effective and user-friendly way to conduct multimedia audio and/or video teleconferences has long been sought. The promulgation of the H.323 Recommendation and the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), as well as other multimedia packet protocols, have raised hopes that multimedia audio and video conferencing may yet reach their full potentials. Typically, to teleconference using such systems, users must log in to a teleconferencing server, identify themselves as authorized parties, and be scheduled for the conference.
Instant Messaging (IM) allows users to log in to an Instant Messaging server and conduct a text-based “chat” session with groups associated with a user's “buddy” lists. Typically, a user logs in to the server, identifies themselves as being present, uploads a “buddy” list, and then is invited to chat with those on the buddy list.
Telephony systems and instant messaging systems both have advantages and circumstances of use in which one or the other might be more desirable. Typically, telephony systems and instant messaging systems are discrete systems requiring users to learn different sets of procedures for effective usage of each. Further, such systems do not typically allow for cross-system interaction. For example, while a user could establish an instant messaging session with a party while in the middle of a teleconference with that party, the instant messaging session would be wholly independent of the teleconference.
As such, there is a need for a telecommunications system having a greater integration of instant messaging and teleconferencing. There is a still further need for such a system to have a relatively high level of ease of use.